1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a remote surgery support system for remotely supporting surgery.
2. Description of the Related Art
Normally, a surgeon performs surgery on a patient in an operating room. Sometimes the surgeon may have to carry out a surgical procedure with which the surgeon has little experience. A support system for helping the surgeon appropriately perform surgery on a patient is presumably such that the surgeon in the operating room can perform surgery while being supported by a remotely supporting surgeon. Specifically, the surgeon in the operating room communicates with the remotely supporting surgeon in a remote place over a public line during surgery.
Related arts concerning the remote surgery support system for remotely supporting surgery include Japanese Patent Application No. 10-318019.
According to the related art, when surgery is performed by controlling the movement of a surgical instrument using a manipulator, a surgeon in an operating room is informed of the manipulation expressed by a manipulation signal produced when a remotely supporting surgeon controls the surgical instrument. Consequently, the surgeon in the operating room can smoothly carry out a surgical procedure with the help of the remotely supporting surgeon.
However, according to the related art, the remotely supporting surgeon cannot monitor the state of the surgical instrument in the operating room. For instructing the way of manipulating the surgical instrument from a remote control room to the operating room, the remotely supporting surgeon must ask verbally as to the state of the surgical instrument from time to time. A surgical procedure is therefore suspended frequently. Consequently, there is an increasing demand for an environment in which surgery can be performed more smoothly.
Moreover, the remotely supporting surgeon has no means for checking patient data. Patient information must therefore be sent to the remotely supporting surgeon. In case of emergency surgery, it is impossible to make patient information timely available in a remote place.